Network Rail Consulting’s Infrastructure Maintenance Expert, Emma Whitehead, Announced as Winner of This Year’s Young Rail Professional Award

This year’s Australasian Rail Industry Awards took place online on Thursday 15th October and announced Network Rail Consulting’s Emma Whitehead, Managing Consultant, Infrastructure Maintenance Expert, as this year’s winner of the Young Rail Professional Award.

The award is sponsored by the Railway Technical Society of Australasia (RTSA) and presented annually at the Australasian Rail Industry Awards. The ceremony is a platform for individual and company achievements in the rail industry to be recognised and celebrated.

Emma Whitehead commented, "Anyone who witnessed the live stream of the awards would agree that I was completely shocked at the announcement! It’s an unexpected honour, and is humbling to know that my efforts over the years to help others achieve their full potential, whether that be by offering encouragement to young people and colleagues in their careers, or by influencing local policies, has been recognised. We achieve great things together, so I used the speech airtime to thank a number of the team in NRC who have shared my passion for change.”

Emma joined NRC Australia in 2019 from Network Rail, UK, and has over eight years’ experience in the rail industry, having worked in operations management, project management, and maintenance planning. Emma has worked with various teams across the UK and Australia on high profile projects such as the Thameslink Programme and the London Overground Capacity Improvement Programme; currently she is working on Sydney’s Digital Systems Program for Transport for New South Wales.

RTSA Executive Chair, Maneesh Gupta commented, “Emma is not afraid to take on new challenges. Her expertise and reputation for delivery are second to none while her commitment to always striving to make the industry better is unmatched. Her commitment to social improvement is evident in every project she works on. Emma is a fantastic representative for our industry and a young leader with a big career ahead."